Government Shutdown 2013: Mayor Gray applauded for defending D.C.

By Sam Ford
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WASHINGTON (WJLA) - It didn’t take long for the city to start looking back to normal again. Tourists are back, neighborhood parks are open, school field trips have returned, and the lines at food trucks are crowded again.

And to a numbers of residents, the one who out a winner in all of this was Mayor Vincent Gray.

"I did not vote for Mayor Gray but I was really impressed that he stood up and said, 'Hey, this isn't good for us, the residents of the city,'" said D.C. resident Ann Croft. "I like the way they dipped into the funds to make sure we got our garbage picked up."

By declaring all D.C. workers “essential” and paying them out of reserve funds, a shutdown that could have been damaging to the District turned out not to be – thanks to Gray.

“We never shut our government down for one day, and hopefully this does send a message," Gray said.

Gray got in Congress’ face, crashing a Senate Democrats news conference and getting publicly chastised by Majority Leader Harry Reid. But when the deal was done on Wednesday, D.C.’s funds were exempted from any further shutdowns this session.

"I thought he pushed issues on this and pushed hard for the city, so I'm still uncertain about some of the aspects of his mayoral [role[], but I think this has been a good show for the city," said District resident Mat McInnis.

So will a mayor who was formerly considered politically dead seek re-election?